I Spent 27 Years in Prison… Am I Your Father? | KARAMO

Okay, so when Crystal's brother Christopher went to prison 27 years ago, he asked her to find his long-lost child. When he was released, she surprised her brother with a man she believes is his son. Take a look at this.

Hi, do you know him?

Oh, shit. What's up, bro?

My brother meet his son for the first time in—

Oh!

Oh!

How many years? How old are you?

27.

Oh Lord, this is first time ever seeing him. Oh my God.

Okay everyone, so here's the problem. Not everyone is sure she found the right person. So they are all here today to find the DNA truth. So first let's meet Crystal and hear her side of the story. Hi Crystal. You look great. You look great. How are you?

How you doing?

Nice to meet you. Oh, you look phenomenal. Oh, okay, let me see these nails too. Okay, she came out here to work. All right, I ain't mad at you. So Crystal, your DNA mystery started 27 years ago with a promise. Tell me about that.

So my brother was incarcerated in 1996. And when he was incarcerated, he used to always tell me, I think I got a son on the way. And I used to say, okay, then, the mother of the child used to come to the prison to see him. After she had him, she wasn't coming anymore. So he was still calling me, telling me, you know, I need you to find my son. And I'm like, you want me to find your son? I'm out here partying, trying to have my own son. I ain't got time to be looking for nobody's son. I'm trying to find a baby daddy. So I was looking. So time went on and time went on and he kept asking. Every phone call, it never was a, time that we had a phone call or a JPay that he didn't say, I need you to find my son.

Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah, that's beautiful.

It never, never was. So I got to the point to, I was like, is this man delusional? Do he really got a son? 'Cause he been saying this for 27 years and ain't nobody come up.

Yeah.

And I used to post it. So I have a large following on social media. I used to post it. I used to put his name up there. I put the mother name up there, but I wasn't getting anything.

Nothing. Mm-hmm.

And I kept saying, what is the problem? Like if he exists, then, you know.

Somebody would've said something. Somebody said something, especially with your following and everything else.

Nobody never said anything. But it was a kicker why nobody ever said anything.

Why?

His name was changed.

Oh.

His name was changed and he was adopted. She gave him up at 3 months.

Got it.

So that's why we couldn't find him.

Got it. Okay then. How did you get the break in your search?

My niece and my cousin went on social media And when they found her on social media, my brothers was like, listen, I want my son. Where's my son? I want my number. I want the number to his son. My brother called me and so he said, I found Keymontae, but he not answering the phone. And he told me about the name change. So I said, okay. So I said, well, gimme the number. So he gave me the number. I called him, I didn't get an answer. And right when I was texting, he called back and I was like, listen, look, I don't beat around the bush. I'm just gonna say what it is. Listen, my name Crystal, I'm your aunt.

Yeah.

And he said, huh? I said, your daddy just came home from prison. You know your daddy was in prison, right? She said, yeah. This is exactly how I said it. I said, look, when you off? I said, because we can meet. He said, today just happened to be the day I'm off.

So if y'all don't know by now, Chris is not for the games. I don't know if y'all can tell.

I can't do it.

You're not for the games.

I can already see.

Uh-uh.

He said, but we ain't got no time to play around. Listen, I'm your auntie. When you off, let's get together.

So he said, well, I was getting ready to go to the grocery store. We can meet at the grocery store.

Store.

So we set a destination up. He said, then what he said was, is my dad coming? I said, oh, dad. Okay, hold on, let me work this out, 'cause I know my brother just told me he had to go to work. So I called my brother's wife and I said, Sonya, listen, I'm about to meet Keyonte. Act like I'm giving you some clothes that he need to come get 'em. So when we got to the grocery store, he said, Crystal, why we here? I'm texting Keyonte. Keyonte texting me and I'm like, I said, where you at? He said, I'm right here in this color car. I said, I'm right here. Do you see an old man out smoking? And he said, yeah. I said, well, that's him. I said, can I record it? I said, is it okay to record? And he said, yeah. He said, how you wanna do it? I said, listen, we just gonna do it.

Yeah, we just gonna do it.

And that's what you saw on the video.

It was an emotional video. How did it make you feel knowing that this moment had finally happened?

It was much more after that because my brother cried the whole way home. It was so emotional for me to see my brother cry like that.

So what will you do if these results come back that Keymonte, but his name got changed to Christopher, right?

No, no, no, his name was Christopher after my brother.

Okay.

But it's Keymonte now.

It's Keymonte now, okay then. So what will you do if the results come back that Keymonte is not Christopher's son?

Well, it's too late 'cause he can't un-unt me no more.

Okay.

We done did auntie nephew outings. Yeah, it's too late for that.

But would you continue the search? To try to find the actual biological child if this is not his?

He about to do it 'cause he home now.

I'm done. You said, "I'm finished." I'm done. I'm finished. Okay then. Well, Crystal's brother Christopher is here, so everyone, let's welcome Christopher to the show. Welcome home, man. Welcome home, brother. Yes, all right. So Christopher, how has life changed for you?

It changed a lot.

Yeah.

It changed a lot. Yeah. It really changed a lot.

Mm-hmm.

Going through what I going through, what went through, and to have this search for my son, and it's possibly gonna happen, it changed.

Yeah.

It changed.

So you sent your sister out first to find Tay's mom?

Yes. Uh-huh. So she get the name, she keep looking, she keep looking, she keep looking, but we can't find this woman, we can't find the kid. So I just went into full investigation mode with her. 'Cause she like, if don't nobody know my sister, detect death.

She gonna find out.

She get it in.

So why was it important for you to find Tay?

It was important for me to find Tay because I have two other children and they mean the world to me, so.

Got it. You were in prison for 27 years. Is knowing that you had Tay out there, was that what kept you going?

That's exactly what kept me going. 'Cause I used to always say to myself, I used to be like, I celebrate this child's birthday, I celebrate this child's birthday, and I have another child, so I'm gonna keep that tradition going. So I just kept celebrating, celebrating, celebrating, praying, praying, praying, praying. And hey, here we are today.

Yeah, okay. We have that photo, I wanna take a look at that real quick. Oh, so this is a photo that you had when you were in prison?

That was the only picture that I ever had of him. And I treat that picture still today like gold.

Got it. That's beautiful. So do you think that photo of young Tay looks like Tay now?

Yeah.

You do?

Yes. Yes?

Okay.

I mean, he look like a young me, you know what I'm saying?

He look cuter.

So we saw the viral video of you and Tay. What was that moment like for you?

My sister tricked me with groceries 'cause I'm hungry. So I mean, it was, ah.

He always wants something to eat, so therefore that's how I ended up.

You could've tricked me too. You'd have told me there's some food going on, I'd have got in the car.

That's an easy trick. Well, I mean, when I, When I first met him, it was like, you see on the screen, like when I was hugging this man, I'm like, I felt his heart and his heart and my heart and it was like that connection was there. So I was like, he got to be my son. And then I would look at him, I'm like, I'm fine, so he fine.

How many times have you seen him since that day?

Well, we have met up a couple times since the day because I try to make sure that I give him his space.

Of course.

His time to grieve.

Yeah.

His time to process everything. Yeah. But we stay on the phone almost every day.

How long ago was this? This was—

This, that was—

This was the same day.

But that was October?

Yeah, that was, no, that was December the 16th.

December.

That was the day I found him.

Okay, December the 16th. Wow, okay. So this is like new and fresh that you've been trying to build a relationship. You've seen him a couple times, talked on the phone. And that's also why there's this confusion because even though it's been a couple months, there still has been no DNA proof. So what will you do if you find out, 'cause I gotta ask, if Tay is not your son?

Well, I look at it like this. I ain't abandon him, he's staying. He's staying. He's staying. I love this young man. God, I love him. So whether he my son or not through DNA, he my son.

God, that makes sense. Yeah. I think we can all feel your heart. You got a big heart, so I can see that. Well, I think it's time to meet Tay and hear what he has to say about all of this. So everyone, please welcome Tay to the show. Hey, Tay, how you doing? Good to meet you.

He look like you.

We all related though. So first of all, welcome for being here. I know this is a lot for you, but I gotta ask you, what do you know about Christopher?

So I didn't know too much about him growing up. I just was told that he was in prison and I kind of just went with that and I never really took it upon myself to do any further searching.

And so that's a lot to handle 'cause you're growing up, I heard you say your aunt, Dental Arts said earlier that you were adopted. So what was life growing up like for you?

Growing up, life was good. I was adopted at 3 months old by my cousin who I call my mom, and she kind of played a mother role and a father role in my life. So I had a good upcoming.

Good, good, good, good. Great, that's great. So what did you think when you got the message from Krystal?

Filled with a bunch of different emotions. I was scared but also excited.

You told my producers that you longed for a father figure. Tell me about that.

I did. I always growing up wanted that father figure in my life. And although I did have a caring mother who played the role of a father figure and my mother, I didn't have the dad growing up that I wanted to have. So when I was able to finally meet him, it meant a lot to me.

There is something a lot different about like, okay, let me find you, we've met. But the knowledge of knowing that he celebrated your birthday in prison every year, how does that make you feel?

That made me feel great knowing that he did that and we had never even met before. Forward and made me feel amazing.

Yeah, yeah. So that, we saw the video when y'all met for the first time. What was going through your mind?

This is a moment that I've always been waiting for.

Yeah.

So when I finally was able to do it, I just was overwhelmed with emotions.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Woo!

Y'all both been waiting.

Yeah.

Both been waiting.

Well listen, I do think it is time to solve this 27-year-old DNA mystery. In this envelope is the DNA truth. This is not my truth to open, this is yours. So here you go.

Ah. Before you open it, I want you to know whatever that say, whatever these people think, whatever Karamo think, you cannot un-unt me. I am still your aunt.

Open it now?

Whenever you're ready. It's your truth to open.

Ah. This says Christopher T is your biological son.

Here you go. Here you go. So you a good actor too.

Cause you had us all, To be honest, to be honest with you, I got that from, I watched your show just last night.

You got that from me?

Oh my God.

K, K, how did it feel?

It feels amazing.

It feels amazing?

Oh my God, you had me worried. Oh, I thought I was the jokester.

Okay. Oh man.

27 years, this moment you finally can look face to face with your father, with your son, and know he's here.

It's a moment I've always dreamed of.

You dreamed of this moment?

Oh boy, like, it just grow from here. It, hey, the party just started, it's on now. It's on now, it's on now.

I will tell you something. Again, we talked about it earlier, but the fact that your father was in prison thinking of you, there was that bond there and that love for you. And I know that sometimes when, as young kids, we might feel like we have abandonment, like, why did no one care for me? And I hope that having that information, it doesn't change your childhood, but it will help to heal some of that. So you know that you can trust that someone loved you. They were out there wanting you. They were searching for you. This family was searching for you. You were wanted and you were loved even when you didn't know it. And so now you know it and they are here and I can tell already they ain't going nowhere. He celebrated your birthday for 27 years without you. So now it's time to celebrate the rest of them for the rest of your life. When is your birthday by the way?

August 3rd.

August? It's in August? Okay.

He just said his birthday was August the 3rd?

Yes.

I've been selling his birthday August the 13th 'cause that was on the birthday TV show.

Oh wow. Oh yeah.

But now I, I found out when I came home, so he got two birthdays now, the third and the 13th.

So you get the whole month to celebrate. That's what I'm hearing. So take the whole month, be like, Dad, we celebrating all month. You deserve it. I'm so happy for y'all. Congratulations. Thank you. You're welcome. Mm-hmm.